Week 4 Review: "Call me Laura"

I promise to try harder with this one! It is very difficult to break habits and even though I know you are wanting to be called by your first name, it is a difficult task. I promise to take a second look at the emails that I send you and try to break that habit.

Literal Change is Hard Meme (Web Source)

Learning Challenge: Learning By H.E.A.R.T. Meme

I chose a meme to talk about for this week's Learning by H.E.A.R.T. I was looking through the assignment pages when I came across this meme:

Procrastination Panda Pumping out Those ATPs (Web Source)

This meme really speaks to me as a science major. There are definitely days where I am tired and want to consider the fact that my body continues to enact all its various metabolic processes for the day an accomplishment.

Wikipedia Trail: From Saraswati to Brahman

Saraswati
I was initially interested in learning more about Saraswati because I was considering the Hindu Trinity as the topic for my Storybook Project. I was specifically interested in the love story she has with Brahma. So...I clicked on Tridevi next.

Tridevi
I wanted to look into this article because I wanted to see if there were any more connections between Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Parvati that I had not yet considered. I found a really interesting image while looking at the article and I could really see myself using this image in my storybook later on.

 

Tridevi (Wikimedia)

Brahma
After reading about the Trinity, I clicked on Brahma, Saraswati's significant other. I didn't find as much as I would have liked on his romance with Saraswati, but I did find a lot of interesting factoids about Brahma and all the various ways I had seen his name before. It was interesting to see the different ways in which his name was used to create new words or represent different ideas.

Brahman
The last article that I clicked on was Brahman. I was hoping to learn more about the differentiation between Brahma and Brahman and found out that Brahman actually refers to the "highest Universal Principle" or the "Ultimate Reality". I thought this could be an interesting idea to pair with Maya which is an alternate reality.

 

Growth Mindset: Throwback to Finals Week of Spring 2016

After completing the Feedback Focus assignment this week, I was reminded of a time last semester that I felt completely overwhelmed by everything I had on my plate. It was the weekend before finals and two weeks before I took the MCAT. I felt like I needed to study literally everything for every single remaining second until I had completed everything in front of me. And then, I decided to do something crazy....

Meme I created to remind myself I could do it (Christen O'Neal)

...I took a break. I made this meme and I felt like it was really applicable to anyone who ever feels like everything is just way to big for them to accomplish. Because, even though the stack of papers may be larger than the stapler, the stapler still conquers the papers by organizing them into that stack. By recognizing that I needed a system, I felt less overwhelmed and got back on track with studying for finals and continued my relentless MCAT studying.

Bibliograph:
Growth Mindset: A Powerful Way to Learn by Laura Gibbs (Web Source)

Feedback Focus

Reading Out Loud
Although I liked the idea of reading each of the stories out loud, I found it very difficult to find a time and a place where I could actually do so. I already follow through with reading stories from beginning to end and then giving them a second read through, so I feel like my method is typically focused. I do feel like when I am reviewing my own work, I really have to read it out loud in order to get a different perspective. If I am not understanding a story, I might utilize this technique to similarly gain a different perspective.

Copy and Delete
There are definitely occasions that I have used this technique, especially for denser readings. I really enjoy the stories I read in this class, so I don't think I will need this technique unless I come across a particularly confusing story.

Use a Timer
I have not used this technique before, but I actually really liked it. I tend to be very goal-oriented, and sometimes this makes giving real, focused feedback difficult because I am more concerned with completing an assignment than with the actual feedback process. This is one of my biggest pet peeves, but I cannot deny that I am occasionally guilty of doing the same thing. I know others can tell when the feedback is not coming from a place of curiosity and rather a place of haste because I know that I can tell when others do the same to me. This method really made me dedicate a specific amount of time to the reading and this made the feedback much easier to write.

Jackie Gerstein (Web Source)

Tech Tip: Google Site Website (Nakshatras of the Trinity)

My storybook website is up and running! If you want to take a look at it, click here.

The storybook is inspired by some of the most dramatic stories of the Hindu Trinity. Each character must battle the mistakes of their past in order to create a new life for themselves. However, some will find that their crimes against others are too great to dismiss, and will transcend time itself to deliver karma.

Reading Notes: Kubera- The Lord of Wealth

I wanted to read this particular comic because I wanted to see if there were more connections between Ravana and Sita prior to the Ramayana. It was very interesting to read the backstory of Ravana and to realize that he had caused a lot of imbalance in the world long before the time that the Ramayana took place. Ravana, formerly known as Dasagriva, was influenced by his mother's jealousy of his half brother, Kubera, and vowed to become more powerful than him.

I found it interesting that in order to accomplish this task, Dasagriva had to perform various acts showing his devotion to the gods, gaining him attention from Brahma, who granted him immortality. Similarly, Kubera had to perform these tasks, although different from Dasagriva's, and for 1000 years. However, Dasagriva used his gift for evil and continued to take various kingdoms until Kubera begged him to stop. Dasagriva was outraged and stole Kubera's chariot that was given to him by Brahma and seriously wounded him. Eventually, Dasagriva was killed by Rama, after he kidnapped Sita.

Ravana Kidnapping Sita (Wikimedia)

I found more on the history between Sita (Vedavati) and Ravana on Wikipedia. There is some variation in the different stories about Vedavati, but she is supposed to come back and take revenge on Ravana for touching her hair and making her unpure. The ideas about purity and women are very interesting and I felt like Vedaveti's story was somewhat similar to Sati's story because they both end their lives over a man's dissatisfaction. I think I could use the four stories to really put together a storybook with the themes I have been considering.

Bibliography:
Kubera: The Lord of Wealth by Amar Chitra Katha (Bizzell Library)
Vedavati Wikipedia Page. (Web Source)

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part D

As with most great epics, a large emphasis is placed on the battle that concludes the story with some wavering mentions of the love story which the entire epic is essentially based off of. Although I know this literary style is bound to frustrate me in the very last part of the story, I continue to love reading epics because it is a very unique literary style that aims to establish several in depth back stories, allowing for character development from sometimes several perspectives.

I was particularly frustrated with this ending because I could hardly believe that Rama would accuse Sita of betraying him, or condemning her if she had been overtaken by Ravana. It seems to go against the main principles established throughout the story and reminds me of the same kind of brash reaction Shiva exhibits in his love story with Parvati. In both stories, the actions of the female characters are seen as secondary, and often undermined by the action of their husband, despite their unwavering faithfulness.

I would like to do more research on Ravana and possibly see if he has more backstory with Vishnu that I could utilize for my project. I think it could be interesting to incorporate a story about the tragic back and forth between the two main characters if I decide to use Karma as my topic.

Bibliography:
Narayan's Ramayana. (Web Source)

Rama and Rava in Battle (Wikimedia)